VTB plans to sell stake in Pulkovo but has not yet received interesting offers

VLADIVOSTOK. Sept 5 (Interfax) - VTB plans to sell its 25.01% stake in St. Petersburg's Pulkovo Airport but has not yet received interesting offers, VTB head Andrei Kostin told journalists on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum.

"You know, we are generally planning [to sell the stake]. We even offered, but so far, there are no proposals for cash at a good price. So far, the proposals we have are like this - some don't have money, others say let's merge into our common corporation, but we're not interested in being a 5% co-owner in five more airports," Kostin said.

Among those interested in VTB's stake in Pulkovo are interested parties from Moscow's Domodedovo Airport, which came under state ownership in June this year. It was previously controlled by businessman Dmitry Kamenshchik. "They are proposing we merge with other major partners, consolidate - we will see. Maybe those who didn't buy Domodedovo now might buy Pulkovo," Kostin said.

Kostin did not specify who he was referring to. Previously, the co-owner of Moscow's Vnukovo Airport, Vitaly Vantsev, publicly expressed interest in Domodedovo.

When asked if VTB itself is interested in Domodedovo Airport, Kostin said, "Domodedovo? No, no, absolutely not."

The operator of Pulkovo is Air Gates of the Northern Capital LLC, which is owned by VVSS Holding LLC. Structures of VTB hold the largest stake in this LLC. Among its other major co-owners are Oman's Orbit Aviation (25%, previously owned by Germany's Fraport) and Qatar's F3 Holding LLC (24.99%).

In 2024, Pulkovo served 20.9 million passengers, becoming the second busiest airport in the country by passenger traffic. Domestic flights handled 16.7 million passengers (16.9 million in 2023), international flights handled 4.2 million passengers (3.5 million in 2023). The base carrier is the airline Rossiya (part of Aeroflot Group ).

VTB is also the largest co-owner of Gelendzhik Airport, with a 49.5% stake.